My hand falls to my chest and I feel the rapid beat beneath my palm before taking a few slow breaths. When I finally think I’ve got myself under control, I drag my sweaty hands down my shorts and slap on a smile, only it feels awkward as fuck on my face. I must look like a fool.
The warning bell sounds and my eyes bug out of my head. Shit. I’m out of time.
I swing myself through the door only to find Miss Blakeley’s annoyed glare already on me. “Sorry,” I cringe. “It won’t happen again.”
“Mmmhmm,” she murmurs in disbelief somehow managing to make me feel like a piece of shit. “Get to your seat.”
I nod and scram only when I turn down the aisle and find the most intense blue eyes staring back at me, my world stops. Every thought exits my head as a goofy as fuck grin spreads across my face. I must look like an idiot, but suddenly the smile on my face doesn’t seem so fake.
A noise tears up my throat and comes out as some sort of snorty grunt that has embarrassment flooding me. What the hell was that?
Puck smirks at my shame and I want nothing more than to drown in a pile of my own embarrassment. I can only imagine what Brylee is going to say about this.
Shake it off, Court! It doesn’t get much worse than a snort.
I let out a discreet breath, trying to rid myself of the torturous butterflies swarming around in my stomach and get my ass moving toward my seat. I can start over once I get myself seated. Besides, no one said there were any rules as to how this was supposed to go.
I somehow manage to get to the back of the classroom gracefully without snorting or making a fool of myself and I give myself a mental round of applause. I’ve got this. I’m a badass bitch. This will be easy.
I drop my books for my morning classes on the table and try to ignore the way he leans back in his chair, making him look like some kind of Greek God with that tanned skin and dazzling blue eyes. “Morning,” he says in a low tone that has everything inside of me clenching.
Be cool, Courtney and for fuck’s sake, don’t snort again.
I pull my chair out and give Puck a warm smile. “Hey,” I say, trying to be cute as I drop my ass down to my seat, only I miss the fucking thing and go tumbling down to the ground with a squeal loud enough to alert the cafeteria ladies. “Fuck,” I shriek as my ass hits the floor with a thud that I’m certainly not prepared for.
Puck dives in after me, but the laughter tearing out of him tells me that I’ve more than ruined my chances for today. How fucking humiliating.
“Babe,” he howls, trying his hardest to rein in his laughter, but there’s no chance in hell, the guy is just moments from falling off his own fucking chair. “Are you alright?”
I pout up at him, hating how humiliated I feel. I mean, how is it possible for my morning to go so freaking badly? “Did everyone see that?” I murmur, wanting to climb under my table and never come out.
Seeing the embarrassment in my eyes, Puck’s laughter instantly ceases and he glances up at the other students before a look of pure terror stretches over his face. “What the fuck are you looking at?” he demands of the class. “Give her a bit of fucking privacy.”
Shame takes over me knowing they all saw, but I don’t doubt that the second my head pops up above the table that every eye in the room will be facing the front. Hell, probably Miss Blakely’s too. Nobody here would have the balls to go against Puck’s wishes, they couldn’t be that stupid.
Puck’s eyes fall back to mine. “Don’t worry, babe. No one saw a thing. You’re good.”
That warm smile that disappeared the second I realized I was falling comes straight back and despite how obvious he made it that everyone did, in fact, see my epic fail, I can’t help the warm fuzzies that sail through me at his attempt to protect my dignity. But the questions is – why the hell do I find that so endearing and comforting?
Puck offers me his hand and I gingerly take it, loving the feel of his warm skin against mine. He pulls me up off the ground as though I’m as light as a feather and within a second, his eyes are raking over my body with worry. “Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself?”
“I’ll be alright,” I tell him, grabbing hold of my chair and sliding my ass back onto it with a little more care than I had during my first attempt. I cringe as my weight settles on my ass and I don’t doubt he just saw that. “I can’t say the same for my dignity though.”